Italy/Greece Trip – Day 7 – Ephesus and Patmos

After a beautiful evening visiting the island of Mykonos, we sailed during the night to Kusadasi,Turkey, arriving the morning of May 17th. A short drive took us to Ephesus, where Paul spent three years during his ministry. The impressive remains of Ephesus include the Agora, the Theater, the Stadium, the Library of Celsus, the ruins of the Temple of Diana (one of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”) and many more.

Ephesus was one of the sites I most wanted to visit due to its location in Asia, its importance in Greek and Roman history, and its significance in Paul’s ministry.

During Paul’s time there, Ephesus may have been the third largest city in the Roman Empire, only behind Rome and Alexandria. It also had one of the largest ports. Not only home to a bustling port, it was also home to the Temple honoring the very important Greek god Artemis. The Temple of Artemis, also known to the Romans as the Temple of Diana, was one of the seven wonders on the ancient world. So, Ephesus was the most important city for the Romans in Asia Minor and was a religious, cultural and economic powerhouse.

It would lose its significance after 330 A.D, when Constantinople would become the new capital of the Roman Empire and Christianity would become its official religion. And when the river that connected the city to the sea became a marsh in the 5th or 6th century, the city was basically abandoned.

However, when we visited the ruins, which are actually in pretty good shape, one can imagine the wonder that a first time visitor must have felt while walking down the main road, which was paved completely with marble and covered with a roof supported by beautiful marble columns. It was quite a bustling and beautiful city. Its houses, some of which we visited, were more impressive than Pompeii.

But because of Apostle Paul’s background, he was not intimidated in the slightest by the fancy architecture and enormous wealth. In fact, he had to be talked out of preaching (lecturing) to a large audience at the amphitheater because his friends knew he would have probably been stoned to death, given the message he was going to deliver. Remember, the city owed much of its economic success to Artemis. People would come from all over the Mediterranean to make pilgrimages to honor their very important God. And Paul’s message would have insulted his audience and threatened their economic livelihood. So, he left. Acts 18:19–21.

Paul would return to Ephesus and spend almost three years there. Evidently, he must have enjoyed Ephesus. He would write two letters to the Ephesians in the 60’s A.D. while under house arrest in Rome. Some scholars think that those letters could have been written by another writer after Paul died. Regardless, Ephesus was an important city to Paul.

By the way, my photos do not come close to conveying the impressive ruins of Ephesus.

Later, we sailed for the island of Patmos, arriving in the afternoon. Patmos is where St. John wrote Revelations while he was imprisoned by the Romans. Here we visited the Monastery of St. John, on one of the island’s highest points, and the Grotto or cave of the Apocalypse, the site where John received his revelations.

No history on Patmos and John, who lived into his 90’s.